Rotary engine.



PATENTED MAY 19,1908.-

3 SHEETS-'SHEET l.

T. J. QUI-RK. ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLmATIoN FILED sB1 T 1a,19o"/.

QON 9^ 7^ .J O I: MA Y. n m W m wm z// 9 1 l ,f i M n M m .WW -K I 7 .-WA Li m, K. l Z irl 0o 20u 73 @ya W 2 2 Z W, .nf f E. J -E Y M PATBNTBDMAY 19, 190s. T. J; QUIRK. ROTARY ENGINE. APPLIGATIQN FILED SEPT.18.1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Witneses 5MM M 1M: Narzms PETERS co., wAsmNcroN, DA c.

No. 888,033` PATENTED MAY 19, 1908. T. J. QUIRK. ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLIGATION FILBp sBPT.1a, p07. 3 SHEETS SHEET 3 ffii O hummm Zilzesse:

1H: NuRR/s PETERS ca., WASHINGTON, n. c

PATENT TIMOTHY I. QUIRK, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROTARY ENGINE.

Application-filed September 18, 1907.

To all @07mm fit may concern.'

Be it known that I, TIMOTHY J. Qnmx, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State ol.'Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Rotary Engines, of whichthe following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings,is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing' likeparts.

My invention is a rotary engine, based somewhat upon the turbineprinciple, and comprises, in its simplest form, a central stationarypart which contains the various ports, and opposite rotary members forreceiving the steam from said ports, one of said members beingl thehigh-pressure member receiving the steam directly from the steam inletports, and the other of said members receiving' the partially exhaustedsteam from the first mentioned member, said two members beingpreferably, as herein shown, made fast on the same shaft to rotate inthe same direction.

The constructional details of my invention will be pointed out moreatlength in the course of the following description, taken in connectionwith the accompanying' drawings, in which I have shown a preferredembodiment ofthe invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a central vertical longitudinal sectionalview Figs. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views taken respectively on thedotted lines 2-2, 3MB, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrowsrespectively; F ig. 4 is a fragmentary detail of one of the rotarymembers, looking at the inside face thereof, parts being broken away forclearness of representation; and Fig. 5 is a seetional projection, takenon the line 5 5, F 2, showing' the'relative arrangement of the variousparts, chambers, and ports.

For clearness of understanding, I' have shown my invention in itssimplest form, in which the steam has but one expansion and exhaust, butit will be understood that I do not Iimit myself thereto, as themechanical arrangement may be readily varied to adapt the principle ofoperation to a compound engine, and to running as many rotary members asmay be desired.

Mounted on a suitable vbase 1, I provide a central stationary member 2,adjacent whose opposite plane vertical sides rotate members 3, 4 fast ona power transmission shaft 5 Specification of Letters Patent.

Eatented May 19, 1908.

Serial No. 393,463.

journaled coaxially in said stationary member to and in stands oruprights 6. The stationary part 2 is provided with passage-waysI orports 7, S, 9, communicating with steam inlet pipes l0, herein shown asconnected by pipes 11 to a common steam supply pipe 12. Also, thestationary part 2 has a corresponding series of transmission passages13, 14, 15, reversely curved, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 5, andindicated by dotted lines in the remaining' gures, andv has likewise acorre spending series of exhaust passages or ports 16, 17, and 1S,connecting with steam outlet pipes 19, herein shown as connected bypipes 20 to a common steam discharge pipe 21. The rotary members 3 and 4are provided respectively with similar chambers 22, 23, said chambersbeing separated by radial vanes 24, 25, and provided with openings 26,27 for cooperating with the ports of the stationary member in successionas the members 3 and 4 are rotated with the shaft.

Suitable p acking me ans is employed, herein shown as consisting ofopposite flexible strips 28 of packing material, held in the stationarymember tightly forward by springs 29 against the adjacent faces of therotary member, and flexible packing strips 30 clamped by rings 31 andprojecting at their opposite edges against the adjacent strips 28. Therings 31 have openings corresponding to the various ports, as shownclearly in the drawings.

In operation, steam from the pipe 12 is let into the pipes 10, andforcibly dischcrges from the ports 7, S, 9 against the vanes 24, therebyinstantly driving the rotary member 3 and its shaft in the direction ofthe arrow, Figs. 2 and 5. As soon as the chamber 22 with its complementof steam from port 7 has reached the transmission passage 13, said steaminstantly charges back through said passage in the direction of thearrow, Fig. 5, thereby adding a further forward impulse to the rotarymember 3, and, as said steam passes forward from the opposite side ofthe passage 13, it impacts against the adjacent vane 25 of the rotarymember 4, thereby adding a forward impulse to said member, and, as thelatter rotates, so as to bring the partially exhausted steam held in thechamber 23 over the exhaust port 16, the steam rushes out of saidexhaust port, and, by its reactive force, adds still another forwardimpulse to the rotary members 3 and 4, the steam being delivered fromthe exhaust pipes 20, 21, either to another cylinder or set of vanes, orelsewhere, as desired.

I have herein shown three sets of ports for simultaneously acting withbalanced effect upon the vanes in the manner described, although I donot intend to limit myself to any particular number, and also, asalready stated, it will be understood that I do not limit my inventionto any particular constructional details, as it is capable ol a widevariety of embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as defined in the following claims.

Having describedmy invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

l. An engine of the kind described, comprising a stationary member andopposite rotary members arranged to move in the same direction on theopposite sides of saidstationary member, said rotary members being eachprovided with a series of radial vanes, and the stationary membercontaining a steam discharge port opening against the vanes of one ofsaid rotary members, a steam transmission passage connecting l'rom saidrotary member to the opposite rotary member, and an exhaust port leadingfrom the latter, arranged in the sequence mentioned in the direction ofrotation of the rotary members.

2. An engine ot' the kind described, comprising a stationary member andopposite rotary members arranged to move in the same direction on theopposite sides oi' said stationary member, said rotary members beingeach provided with a series oi' radial vanes, and the stationary membercontaining a steam discharge port opening against the vanes of one ofsaid rotary members, a steam transmission passage connecting from saidrotary member to the opposite rotary member, and an exhaust port leadingvfrom the latter, arranged'in the sequence mentioned in the direction ofrotation of the rotary members, said ports and passage being arrangedangularly with relation to the vanes in the direction of said rotation.

3. An engine of the kind described, comprising a stationary member andopposite rotary members arranged to move in the same direction on theopposite sides of said stationary member, said rotary members being eachprovided with a series of radial vanes, and the stationary membercontaining a steam dischargeport opening against the vanes of one ofsaid rotary members, a steam transmission passage connecting i'rom saidrotary member to the opposite rotary member, and an exhaust port leadingfrom the latter, arranged in the sequence mentioned in the direction ofrotation of the rotary members, said ports extending obliquely in thestationary member in the direction of said rotation, and said passagebeing V-shaped, having its o posite ends extending approximatelyparaiiel to said ports.

l. An engine of the kind described, comprising a stationary member andopposite rotary members arranged to move in the same direction on theopposite sides of said stationary member, said rotary members being eachprovided with a series of radial vanes, and the stationary membercontaining a plurality ol' obliquely arranged steam ports spaced atequal intervals circumferentially of the stationary member arranged todeliver steam impacts against the vanes of one of said rotary members inits direction of rotation, a series of obliquely arranged exhaust portsopening in said direction of rotation in cooperation with the vanes ofthe other of said rotarymembers, said exhaust ports being similarlyspaced ap art in the stationary member in advance of the steam ports,and a series of transmission passages spaced apart respectively in thestationary member between successive steam ports and exhaust ports fortransmitting steam from one rotary member to the opposite "rotarymember.

5. In an engine of the kind described, two members co-axially arrangedfor relative rotation having flat faces against each other, one of saidmembers having a series of radial vanes and chambers opening against thecontiguous face of the other member, being provided with concentricallyarranged Vpacking strips held yieldingly against the face of saidvane-provided member on the outer and inner sides respectively of theopenings of said chambers, a clamping ring located between said strips,a third flexible packing strip overlap ing at its opposite edges on theother two pac ring strips and held intermediately clamped by said ring,and ports and passages in the adj aoent member opening through said ringintocommunication with said chambers for the admission of steam to saidchambers and the escape of steam from4 said chambers.

In Atestimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

TIMOTHY J. QUIRK.

Witnesses:

EDWARD MAXWELL, M. J. SPALDING.

